A federal judge in Mississippi on Monday, October 19, 2026, rejected a request by the Trump administration to dismiss a lawsuit filed by civil rights groups against Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI. U.S. District Judge Debra Brown ruled that while the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could join the case, the agency did not have the authority to unilaterally end the litigation once it intervened. The lawsuit, filed by the NAACP and the Mississippi State Conference of the NAACP, will now proceed.
The legal action originated in April 2026 when the NAACP alleged that xAI and a subsidiary violated the federal Clean Air Act and state regulations. The groups claimed the company constructed and operated a gas-fired power plant in Southaven, Mississippi, to power an AI data center without obtaining required environmental permits. In June 2026, the Trump administration moved to intervene on behalf of the EPA, arguing that the agency’s oversight of federal environmental laws granted it the power to dismiss such private lawsuits.
In her ruling, Judge Brown stated that federal law allows the EPA to intervene in private enforcement suits but does not grant the agency "complete control" over the litigation unless it is pursuing its own related action. "The EPA’s role as a primary enforcer of the Clean Air Act does not mean that the federal government retains complete control over all Clean Air Act litigation," Brown wrote. The NAACP stated the court confirmed the law applies to everyone, including the federal government.
In a related class-action lawsuit filed in June 2026, local residents claimed the power plant produces "omnipresent and inescapable" noise that they allege has affected their health and reduced their property values. This ruling ensures that the NAACP’s claims regarding permit violations will be heard in court rather than being terminated by federal regulators.
The outcome addresses the limits of the EPA’s authority to block citizen-led lawsuits under the Clean Air Act. It comes as data center developments face local opposition across the country, with New York having recently imposed a moratorium on such facilities. What happens next is the continuation of the case in the Northern District of Mississippi. A specific trial date or a deadline for the EPA's next filing was not reported. xAI has not yet responded to requests for comment on the ruling.